Gravity-kiln



T. F. ANDERSON.

GRAVITY KILN. APPLICATION FILED MAYzS, |920.

1,363,21 5, PaIenIea me. 2s, 1920.

JQMII T l V /y dna/@215011 W/TNESS L y v OFFICE.

GRAVITY-KILN.

Application led May 25, 1920.

To all whom it man concern Be it known that I, TrIoMas F. Alanna soN, acitizen of the United States, residing at East Liverpool, in the countyof Columbiana and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Gravity-Kilns, of which the following is aspeciiication.

The object of vthis invention is to pro;-u vide an improved gravitykiln, particularly adapted for iiringclay products and in fact anyarticles falling within the general iield of ceramics.

A further object of the invention is to pro vide such an improved kilnwith a construction particularly characterized by the fact that thelongitudinal axis of the chamber within which the articles are firedextends in an upright direction, that is, at a substantial angle withthe horizontal, even to the eX- tent of being perpendicular if asdesired, in order that when said chamber is charged the articles passthrough said chamber under the direct influence of gravity, and withoutneeding the aid of other means for propelling them.

This kiln may comprise either one or more substantially tubular ovensinclosing firing chambers of any suitable cross-section, and having thewalls thereof constructed of ireproof material such as fire-brick, andsubstantially at their midsection exposed to the influence of heatwithin a furnace, which it has been found especially advantageous toconstruct around the periphery of the said chamber or chambers at apoint between the inlet and outlet ports.

`With these general objects in view, the invention in practice comprisesfurther details of construction hereinafter described in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a verticallongitudinal section of one embodiment of the invent-ion; and Fig. 2 isa transverse section on the line .9F-2 of Fig. 1.

Referringto the drawings, a kiln is illustrated which comprises a singletubular tiring-chamber, surrounded at one point by a furnace which inturn is shown as having a pair of independent furnace sections with butone smokestack or outlet for the gases of combustion. Furthermore, thesetwo Asections may as herein shown comprise two l grates from which theheated air currents pass toward each other bei-ore entering and risingthrough the stack.

Specification of Letters Patent.

latented Dec. 28, 1920.

serial No. 384,426.

rEhe furnace can perhaps best be described as Vcomprising a centralsection l of the foundation, having laterally extending wings 2 in whichlatter are positioned grates 3 upoii which the usual fire is laid. Thesegrates as shown in F ig. 2 may obviously extend throughout the length ofthe furnace from rront to rear, or as shown in Fig. l the grate uponeach side of the preferably tubular firing-chamber a may be subdividedinto a forward section 3f and a rearward section 3".

ln either case the exposed ends of the grates are inclosed above theirlevel by fire doors 5 and below their level by ash doors 6, operableindependently of each other. .above the said gratos brick arches 7support the upper' body portion of the furnace construction, whilebeneath said grates the furnacev rests upon any suitable support 8 whichin this instance is shown Vas comprising a floor, through which extendsthe lower end portion 9 of the liring-chainber t, normally closed by anydesired type of door l0, having' suitable means represented by theweight llfor maintaining the same in closed position, said door' alsobeing provided if desired with an aperture or grating as an inlet forair currents, which in passing upwardly through the chamber cause thearticles to dry and kthen rise evenly and gradually in temperaturethroughout their respective masses before entering the zone of greatestheat.

Above the furnace may extend an upper floor i2 or suitable platform,above which extends. the upper end portion 13 of the chamber 2, andthrough which portion the articles to be fired are fed into saidchamber, after removing the cover la. Said chamber is furthermoreprovided with a branch l5, which extends upwardly through the said upperfloor and serves to create a flow of air through the firing-chamber andthus carry oft' the moisture from the articles being iired,'as' well asconveying an equal' firing temperature tothe entire lot of said articlesthroughout their mass.

The central portion ofthe tubular oven tiring chamber as hereinbeforestated passes through a heat Zone and is surrounded by a flue 16, linedby iirebrick l? and from the sides of which the said oven is positionedin substantially uniform spaced relation by means of midfeathers or ribs18, formed of spaced firebriclr or other non-inflammable lio material.The heat of the furnace after starting from the fire-grates, passesaround of the furnace, until stopped by the door l0, or other form ofclosure provided for the purpose; or there may be first placed in thesaid chamber any suitable form of means to temporarily restrain the saidarticles from falling below the zone of greatest heat until .thev havebeen thoroughly iired.

However, with the construction as shown, without such av means as lastreferred to, after the larticles within the heat zone are lcompletelyfired, those articles at thebottomrof the chamber are removed in predetermined quantities at regular intervals unvtil the fired articles reachthe lower outlet, the unired articles being replaced in the chamber atthe top, and the succeeding articles removed for shipment, or forfurther treatment as may be required by the type of articles beinghandled. Thereafter, the raw articles are entered at the top and thesame articles after being completely red are taken with substantiallycontinuous regularity from the lower outlet, thus entirely eliminatingthe common necessity of charging a kiln, ring the same, and thenpermitting it to cool again before the charge can be removed and anothercharge ing serted, and the kiln relieated to the required hightemperature.

In describing this improved kiln, and illustrating the same by means ofthe drawings, reference has been made to obtaining the necessary heat tofire the porcelain articles by the burning of ordinary coal upon one ormore grates. However, while this is preferably proper, the inventioncontemplates as well the use of any suitablefuel whatsoever, as forinstance natural gas, fuel oil, coal dust, and the like, and the slightalteration of the mechanical construction necessary to' make thesubstitution possible a tubular oven chamber, having an inlet and anoutlet, said chamber extending in a slanting direction sufficient tocause solidarticles therein to progress by force of gravity only towardsaid outlet, a source of heat, a heatconveying channel surrounding aportion of said chamber between the ends thereof, and a flue extendingupwardly directly from the said portion of said channel and removed fromthe inlet to said chamber.

2. A kiln, comprising the combination of a substantially rectilineartubular oven chamber, having openings in its opposite end portions, asource of heat, a heat conveying channel surrounding an intermediateportion of said chamber, and a flue to carry off the gases of combustionleading upwardly from the said intermediate portion of said channel andspaced from the upper end of the latter.

3. A kiln, comprising the combination of a substantially rectilineartubular oven chamber having a slant sufficient to cause bodies thereinto progress only by force of gravity toward the lower end thereof, asource of heat, a heatchannel surrounding -a portion of said chamber,and a due leading from said channel directly upwardly and in spacedrelation with the nearer endv of said chamber. l

4. A' kiln, comprising the combination of a substantially rectilineartubular oven chamber having a slant sufiicient to cause bodies thereinto progress only by force of gravity toward the lower end thereof, aheat channel surrounding the central portion of said chamber, a flueleading from the said central portion of said channel upwardly and inspaced relation with the nearer end of said chamber, and a grate adaptedto support a hre to supply heat to said channel. V

5. A kiln, comprising the combination of a substantially rectilineartubular oven chamber having a slant suicient to cause bodies therein toprogress only by force of gravity toward the lower end thereof, a

heat channel surrounding a portion only of said chamber, a flue leadingfrom said chan nel directly upwardly and in spaced relation with thenearer end of said chamber, and a plurality 4of sources of heat leading'into said channel at spaced regions.

6. A kiln, comprising the combination of a substantially rectilineartubular oven chamber having a slant sufficient to cause bodies thereinto progress only by force of gravity toward the lower end thereof, aheat channel surrounding a portion of said chamber, a flue leading fromsaid channel upwardly and in spaced relation with the nearer end of saidchamber, and a plurality of grates adapted to support nre, andpassageways arranged to conduct heat from said grates into said channelat points angularly disposed about'the periphery thereof.

7. A kiln, comprising the combination of a slanting tubular oven chamberof circular cross-section and having an inlet and an outlet, a source ofheat, and a flue operative to convey drafts from said heat source towardand around the central portion of said oven chamber in oppositedirections, then together above said chamber and directly upwardly fromsaid chamber.

8. A kiln, comprising the combination of a slanting tubular oven ofcircular crosssection, a chamber also circular in crosssection throughWhich said oven extends, a source of heat, and a flue operative to con-Vey drafts from said heat source into said chamber and around theopposite sides of said oven, and means to carry off said drafts fromsaid chamber and leading upwardly therefrom.

9. A kiln, comprisingthe combination of a slanting tubular oven ofcircular crosssection, a chamber also circular in crosssection throughwhich said oven extends,l a plurality of sources of heat, a flue fromone source operative to convey drafts directly into a side of saidchamber, a iue operative to convey drafts from another source into thelower portion of said chamber whence the last-mentioned drafts encirclesaid oven in opposite directions, and means to convey all drafts fromthe upper portion of said chamber.

signature.

THOMAS F. ANDERSON.

